Stranger
by Bellalyse Winchester
Summary: Book One of the Allison Becker Chronicles. Allie Becker left the ARC because she was tired of all the action. Her days of traveling through time, however, are only just beginning. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Hiya, this is Bellalyse! After turning this over in my head several times, I am finally introducing to you: The Allison Becker Chronicles. As I've fallen in love with the Doctor recently and have an ongoing affair with Primeval, I've decided it's only natural to combine these two passions. See my deviations on DeviantArt (I use the same screen name) to see a few characters, and read my Primeval fanfictions 'A Lot can Happen on Vacation' and 'That Perfect Balance' to introduce the characters as well. **

* * *

**The Allison Becker Chronicles, Book One: Stranger**

**Chapter 1**

"Now, as we enter the _dinosaur_ exhibit, we move on into the Cretaceous Period first. This was a time of dinosaurs, which roamed the Earth far and wide. Did you know that many years ago, all the world's continents formed _one_ continent? Pretty cool, huh?"

Allison Becker rolled her eyes. The trip to the museum was a bad idea; she'd rather learn from a book than from some condescending bimbo who knew no more about dinosaurs than a fifth grader. Her fascination with the obvious was just a little too juvenile, just like her bright pink lipstick and black pigtails. She wore a museum tee that was about four sizes too large with a belt about her waist to make up for its volume-that just showed how pencil-thin she was. Beneath that was a skirt that didn't fall four inches down her legs.

"_Very _cool." Allison Becker glanced to the side to see a thirty-something man in a suit and trench coat take a long, loud sip from a big plastic cup emblazoned with the phrase 'DINOSAUR WEEK at the British Museum.' She raised her eyebrows as her eyes darted to the floor and saw red Converses. She looked back up at his face and saw his bespectacled eyes-just a second ago he hadn't been wearing glasses, had he?-were watching her with interest. She turned away quickly and, fed up with the tour, walked back out to the lobby.

She paused before the gift shop-she'd promised Nick she'd get him something from Dinosaur Week. He hated that he couldn't make it; he was at the ARC's annual Christmas party, then off to a family event he couldn't squeeze out of. She gritted her teeth and stepped into the gift shop.

Stuffed dinosaurs lined the walls, with a small nook in the back full of books. Allison darted to the back purely out of selfish interest, knowing Nick would rather have a plastic toy 'with real roaring action' and flashing eyes than a concise summation of Darwin's theories. She snatched up a book titled 'Continental Drift' and scanned the first few pages.

"You split pretty quick back there."

Allison turned quickly, eyes wide as saucers, to see the man with the big plastic cup standing behind her. No glasses this time. He turned away from her quickly to pick up a stuffed Tyrannosaurus and wobbled it back and forth for a moment before setting it back down.

"Why should you care?" She struggled to keep her voice steady but even after a lifetime of fighting dinosaurs she was nervous when it came to strangers. The man paused before speaking.

"What's your name?"

Allison took a hasty step backwards. "None of your business," she said quickly. She felt a sudden and irrational longing for her days at the ARC, when she had a gun concealed on her person at all times.

The man shook his head quickly, raising his hands in defense. "I'm sorry-I just have this feeling I recognize you, you know? I could've sworn I've seen you around the city-can't forget eyes like those."

A deep blush ran through Allison's dark complexion and she turned away. "My name's Allie," she said in defeat as she stepped to another shelf; there were stuffed chasmosaurs wearing tees emblazoned with the phrase 'Fun's not extinct at the British Museum.' She lifted one, deciding Nick would love it; he had his dad's refined tastes. She felt the man's presence behind her.

"Allie what?"

She turned quickly, mustering up her courage and staring into his eyes. "I don't know creepy guys who go to museums alone and buy themselves kids' toys and harass women, okay?"

She darted to the cash register, fumbling with her money as the cashier, a black woman with a polite smile and patient, gentle eyes, waited. As she handed over her cash she admitted to herself that Nick fitted one of the accusations she made to the man; he had a massive collection of kids' toys at their flat.

She took the bagged chasmosaur and exited the gift shop, rushing out of the museum into the cold, winter air. She didn't think the man was behind her, so she continued on to her car and started it quickly. She pulled onto the road and breathed deeply, pushing a hand back through her hair-

-it happened so suddenly that she wasn't sure what she saw until the buildings began to collapse into the road-

-a massive, fiery red explosion filled the sky before her. Her eyes widened with terror as she swerved, along with twenty other cars nearby her, and she screamed as she sideswiped the side of a silver car and stopped her car quickly to climb out. Her door was jammed against the other car, where a woman was screaming along with her two children in the back seat, and she was paralyzed and helpless as she saw a metal rafter from a nearby building collapse forward as though in slow motion. It crashed to the ground and then fell towards her, closer and closer. She pulled her legs up to her chest tightly, terrified. Finally the metal smashed into the hood of her car and her airbag inflated. The world around her churned into terrible darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

"**-you've got to wake up! Please, **_**please**_** wake up!" **

**Allison's eyes slowly opened, and she coughed a few breaths weakly. She looked up-the pain of moving her neck even a few inches was horrible-to see a relieved man standing on the other side of her car. **

"**Can you move?" he asked in an American accent. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a gentle, reassuring smile and short, tousled brown hair. Allison's lips quivered as she nodded, wiggling her toes to check. **

"**I'm okay," she murmured. **

"**My name's Jack," the man said. "Jack Harkness." He pulled the passenger side door roughly and it broke free, allowing him to reach his hands in. "I'm gonna take you to the Doctor-we're rounding up the survivors now." **

**A few thoughts drifted through Allison's mind, mainly that she knew she needed a doctor. She allowed the man to pull her out but refused to be carried; she did let him hold an arm about her to keep her steady as she limped away from her car. He was strong, and carried himself like he knew exactly what he was doing, even in the madness. It slowly began to dawn on her how dark the sky was; dust was raining from the sky. Cars were overturned and the road was completely devastated, shattered pieces of pavement embedded within the tombs that used to be buildings. **

"**It's all gone," Allison murmured. She felt a surge of gratefulness that most of the people she knew were out of the city at the ARC Christmas party, before having another thought. "Was it the entire city that was hit?" **

"**There were three points around the world that were hit," Jack explained, shaking his head. "Not exactly strategic points; there was the one on this street, one in South Africa, and one in the outback of Australia. Why they hit there…" **

"**Who hit?" Allison asked, stopping. "Was it terrorists? Suicide bombers?" **

"**Something like that," Jack said. They entered an area mostly cleared of debris, where a few people-very few, Allison saw only five-were huddled about a fire, shivering and shaking with fear. **

"**This is all the survivors," Jack said grimly. "The Doctor, Sarah Jane and I were out looking for anyone else. They get back yet?" **

**One woman by the fire shook her head weakly-Allison recognized her as the woman she sideswiped in the street when the explosion occurred. Her children were gone…**

"**Wait-look there!" A dark-skinned man pointed into an adjacent street, where a woman was walking back into the cleared area, shaking her head. **

"**No one," she said, before seeing Jack with Allison. "Hello! What's your name?" **

"**Allie," she answered. "Allie Becker." **

"**I'm Sarah Jane Smith. Allie, it'll all be okay." She stepped over to her and with a mother's comforting smile took her shoulders in her hands. Allison realized there were tears falling from her eyes. **

"**I'm fine." **

**She joined the others in the circle but sat apart, sitting down and clutching her knees to her chest. When she was little and she was scared, she would murmur facts to herself-just boring stuff, trivia. "Connor's researching invisible anomalies," she whispered. "You can pass into one and not even realize it. They tend to connect close periods of time. They tend to connect the same points in space. They exist for a mere instant of time. Electricity-it causes the anomaly to invert upon itself. Magnets-can alter anomalies' magnetic fields, and even pull anomalies from their original points of origin." **

**The woman called Sarah Jane appeared, sitting herself beside Allison as the murmured to herself. **

"**What are you saying?" she asked. Allison stopped, knowing not to reveal the secrets of the ARC. **

"**Just some science stuff," she said. "When I'm nervous, I just say stuff to keep calm-random stuff. I'm sort of-well, I used to be-a scientist." **

**Sarah Jane looked thoughtful. "I guess everyone touched by the Doctor is a scientist of some sort-I guess I'm a scientist, too. At the very least, I know a good deal about spaceti-science. The Doctor will know what to do." **

**Allison nodded slowly. "Well, I don't think I need a doctor **_**too**_** bad right now-I'm just a bit shaken." **

**Sarah Jane smiled. "He's not a doctor," she said. "His name's just the Doctor." **

**Allison raised her eyebrows dubiously. "I've never heard of anyone with the name Doctor." **

"**Guys!" Everyone in the cleared area looked up at the man's voice. "All right, all right, everyone can stop worrying-I'm back." **

"**Thank God," Jack said. The man stepped into the clearing alone-Allison's eyes widened when she saw him. He was wearing glasses again. **

"**You!" she exclaimed. The man turned to see her and stared in absolute astonishment. **

"**What?" he asked quietly, then increased his volume. He looked even more shocked than she was. "What?" **

"**Doctor, do you know her?" Sarah Jane asked. Allison got up to her feet and stepped backwards behind Jack. **

"**What?" the man called the Doctor asked again. **

"**He was just stalking me in the museum!" Allison shrieked. "Just before that explosion!" **

"**Stalking her?" Jack asked incredulously. The Doctor repeated his question, apparently flabbergasted. Then he murmured something, and Jack asked him to repeat himself. **

"**That was in 2035," he said. "I saw her in 2035-**_**of course!**_**" He spun around, waving his arms joyfully. "**_**That's**_** where I know her from! The eyes, that-yes, yes, yes! Allie **_**Becker!" **_


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes, that's my name," Allison said in discomfort. "Why-"

"Time's in flux," the Doctor said to Jack and Sarah Jane. "Lately, there's been a lot of that around Earth, but a reaction-not chemical, but temporal-must have occurred, creating another fluctuation within the timeline. Specifically, the part of Allie. She was thrust back into another time just twenty-five years before her own. That must've been quid pro quo the appearance of the Dalbermeks, who weren't actually supposed to appear but did because time was in flux-Wibbley wobbley timey wimey, you know. The important thing is that this happened and I know the reason, okay? Good."

It didn't seem to Allison that anyone could ever understand a word coming out of his mouth, but Sarah Jane and Jack nodded.

"Right," Sarah Jane said. "These…Dalbermeks?"

"They're a symbiotic race," the Doctor explained. "Combination animal and plant, working together for survival-the plants release a toxin that the Dalbermeks are immune to but that causes other plantlife to rot, supplying both creatures with food. Not evil, but a few thousand years ago they planted three spaceships on Earth. They think they need to get them-"

"Are you trying to tell me I've gone back in _time?_" Allison Becker glared at all three, the Doctor, Jack, and Sarah Jane. "Well-I've got to find an anomaly, get home! It must've been an invisible anomaly-"

"Allie, I promise I'll have you back to your world before the day is done. Unfortunately, I'm a little busy at the moment." Allison looked between them one at a time.

"You're all mad," she said. The Doctor stepped to her and grabbed her shoulders, forcefully but gently.

"Allie, I know you've got no reason to but you've got to trust me. You work on confidential government stuff, I _am_ confidential government stuff."

"Used to," Allison said, sticking her chin out.

"Eh?" the Doctor asked.

"I _used_ to work at the ARC. I quit."

The Doctor looked astonished. "Quit-why would you quit? The anomaly project's the most-well, awesome-big secret organization Whitehall's got. No offence intended towards Torchwood, mate," he added with a nod to Jack. "I mean, it's _spacetime!_"

"How do you know so much?" Allison asked, shaking his hands from her shoulders. He shrugged.

"I'm the Doctor."

"It doesn't matter," Jack said quickly. "Doctor, how do we stop the Dalbermeks?"

"Gimme your cell," the Doctor said, but Sarah Jane and Jack shook their heads.

"Didn't really think to bring one," Jack admitted.

"Yeah, Doctor," Sarah Jane pointed out. "When I saw about the explosions, I picked up and left-didn't really stop to grab my mobile."

"Allie?" The Doctor looked up at her plaintively. "This is about life and death and if you give me your phone, it could save everyone on this planet."

Allison thought a moment before pulling her sleek black phone from her pocket. The Doctor took it gratefully.

"Two thousand thirties," he said amiably. "Love that sleek design, so space-age and visionary-"

"Doctor!" Sarah Jane and Jack exclaimed.

"Right." He reached deep into his pocket, then into his other pocket, fishing out a little mechanical device. "Let's go, sonic!" He aimed the glowing blue end of the device at the phone, and a binary system of numbers flashed across the screen of the mobile. The Doctor stared at it thoughtfully a moment before pulling the devices apart and handing the strange machine to Allie. "Hold onto that," he said.

"What about my mobile?" she asked as he began to fiddle with the phone.

"I just upgraded it," he said. He held it up to his ear and spoke. "Send message to the Dalbermek fleet, vector five-nine-eight above the planet Earth."

There was a buzz and Allison looked on in amazement as a hologram was emitted from the screen of her phone. It was blurry at first, but came together to form the image of what looked like a dog that got into a fight with a houseplant.

"_Rauffas nash marphas larphas pingyang,_" the creature growled.

"_Daniff rauf brauffer lypha ferffafo_," the Doctor replied in whatever language it was. "_Greffaross jerloffa ig fra fraff froo gris ber._"

The creature was silent a moment before speaking more gibberish, which seemed to annoy the Doctor. He replied with more vigor, and the creature answered slowly. The Doctor spoke sternly, and the creature seemed to think it over a moment before saying something curtly. The Doctor nodded and the transmission ended.

"Did you get through to them?" Sarah Jane asked. The Doctor nodded.

"I think so. Their leader and a delegation want to come down to discuss terms with me. They'll be here shortly."

"Aliens?" Allison asked in horror. The Doctor turned to face her.

"Why did you quit at the ARC?" he asked.

"Because I was tired of madness," she answered tersely. "Time travel and monsters every day of the week isn't right."

"And where do you work now?" the Doctor asked lowly. Allison looked away.

"At a-at a restaurant." She felt her cheeks redden; she worked as a cashier at a fast food place. "It's a safe job."

"Yeah, safe." The Doctor looked a little upset. "Y'know what? Nice and safe. And if I ever need a cheeseburger combo with fries and a Coke, I'll know who to call." He leaned in to her, a grim look on his face. "That's the thing about safe. It's _never_ safe. To a human, 'safe' is the equivalent of 'out of your mind boring.' _That's_ what I think of safe."

He turned away quickly. Allison glanced at Jack and Sarah Jane, who both seemed shocked at his outburst.

"D-Doctor?" Sarah Jane asked compassionately. The Doctor returned his gaze to them, looking sheepish.

"I'm sorry…" He didn't meet anyone's gaze. "I'm sorry."

"Doctor?" Jack spoke up, pointing to a few forms appearing in the rubble. They were the Dalbermeks, and came forward until they were only feet away. The people around the fire huddled closer to one another.

"Doctor," the Dalbermek in the front said-apparently he spoke English. "It is amiable to be meet you at now."

Apparently the creature spoke fractured English.

"Yeah, yeah-look, Dalbermek, I'm gonna need your people to leave. Come on, pop off back in your ships."

"Us we have ships here us we need," the Dalbermek said. "Planet of our is disappear. Us we need ships."

"No, no, no," the Doctor said quickly. "The planets are back. We put them back. Donna and me-" His eyes darkened slightly at the name, but he recovered. "We put them back."

"Realness?" the Dalbermek said. "Fascination. Then us we have not a alibi. _Ramaosh groush freff froff shreff!_"

"No, _no!" the Doctor cried-not before vines shot from the sides of the Dalbermeks. Allison and Sarah Jane screamed but were helpless as they were snatched from the ground and the world dissolved around them. _


	4. Chapter 4

"Fools!" Sarah Jane and Allison looked up to see a Dalbermek glaring at them. It stepped towards them-an amazing feat since it was almost totally tangled within plant. As it leaned in the women got a whiff of the inside of its mouth and turned their heads away deftly.

"We took two humans, like you said!" The Dalbermek that was holding Allison captive sounded confused.

"How can we understand them?" Allison hissed to Sarah Jane, who shook her head.

"Stupid human." The Dalbermek before them glared down at Allison. "The room is equipped with translation circuits. You hear our words in your language."

It returned its gaze to the two Dalbermeks holding the women. "You grabbed two _female_ humans. We cannot breed this pair."

"_Breed?_" Allison asked in horror.

"It must have been the Doctor's Time Lord trickery," the Dalbermek holding Sarah Jane said defensively. "The Doctor would use such tactics to deceive us."

"I shall direct the others to collect a human male from the site," the Dalbermek leader said. "And we must retrieve the Doctor. An opportunity to collect the last of the Time Lords is too good to miss."

"What happened?" Jack asked, glaring with wide eyes at the Dalbermeks. The people about the fire had left with the arrival of the aliens, terrified out of their wits. The Doctor looked furious.

"The Dalbermeks weren't here to get their ships!" he exclaimed. "They knew the planets were returned. They learned there was a planet with a massive abundance of life in this galactic sector and so they came, to…collect."

"Collect?"

The Doctor winced. "I didn't…really…tell you everything about the Dalbermeks. They think of themselves as zoologists superior to every other life form. I didn't think they would today-they kidnap intelligent species to put into freak shows."

"_They_ have freak shows?" Jack asked incredulously. The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, I'm sick of humans' superiority complex. You guys have to accept that to other races, you look like bald pink monkeys."

The Dalbermeks stared at them.

"What are they doing?" Jack asked.

"Waiting for their next objective," the Doctor murmured.

Jack looked at him with surprise. "Let's kill them before they get command," he exclaimed. When the Doctor returned his gaze distastefully, he rolled his eyes. "Let's _incapacitate_ them before they get command?"

"We've got to get Sarah back," he said. "We may have to follow them to the Dalbermek control ship."

"What about Allie?" Jack pointed out. The Doctor cocked his head to the side and nodded.

"Sure. Allie too."

"You don't seem to like her much." Jack sounded both amused and worried at his own statement, and the Doctor looked away.

"It's too soon," he said lowly. "Not to mention, she's-"

He couldn't finish as vines shot from two of the remaining Dalbermeks and they disappeared into thin air. They reappeared on the floor before a Dalbermek. The Doctor turned his head to the left; Sarah Jane and Allison were in cages on the other side of the room.

"Doctor," the Dalbermek leader said.

"Prime Dalbermek," he replied. "You've got me-let my friends go."

"Why would I want to do that, Doctor?" the creature asked. "When you want to make an exchange, you must have something I need. I have you now. I have the humans."

"Prime Dalbermek, it is against galactic regulations to kidnap intelligent life forms for the purposes of study and breeding. The Shadow Proclamation will find you."

"As I understand it, the Shadow Proclamation is looking for you as well."

The Doctor ignored his statement. "There will be consequences to your actions, Prime Dalbermek. Right now, I am giving you the opportunity to put everyone back where they were, and you even get me as a bonus. I'm the only one that has to be taken."

"No, Doctor!" Jack cried. "Don't you dare!"

"Your 'warning' is trickery," the Dalbermek shouted. "Take them to storage!"

"Hey!" Allison shouted as the aliens snatched up her cage. "Nobody's storing _me_, okay?"

The Doctor looked at her for a moment and almost saw a trace of a sassy ginger he knew not long ago…but then it disappeared as one of the Dalbermeks snarled at her and she recoiled with fear.

They were taken to a room lit dimly by luminescent panels in the wall. The Dalbermeks obviously had better things to do than look after them; after they had Jack and the Doctor caged, they left.

The Doctor looked sullen, Jack seemed thoughtful, and Sarah Jane was looking at Allison with concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently. When Allison looked up at her darkly, she shook her head. "Stupid question-sorry."

"I've just been dragged through time-and through dimensions-to crash my car and meet evil aliens and some asshole called the Doctor." She glared at Sarah Jane. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, lowering her voice.

A surprising smile came to Sarah Jane's lips.

"There may be something wrong with every human in the universe," she said quietly, "but I assure you there is _nothing_ wrong with that man. He is the most wonderful, perfect person you could dream of meeting. It's just that he's had the most terrible things happen to him, all at once, a few weeks ago."

"What?" Allison asked. Sarah Jane looked at the Doctor, making sure he wasn't listening in. "What happened?"

"It's difficult to explain." She grimaced. "We had just-stopped an alien race, called the Daleks, from destroying the world. But our victory came at a price. The Doctor lost the two most important people in his tremendous world. He lost the woman he loved, after searching for her for _years_, to the Doctor of another universe. He had to erase his best friend's memory, leaving her with no knowledge of him or the _amazing adventures they shared. Without him, she was almost literally nothing-but she was really the most important woman in the history of…everything. You see, whenever the Doctor finds happiness, it's taken away." _

_Allison looked from Sarah Jane, whose eyes were glistening beneath the weight of the tragedy she was explaining, to the Doctor. She couldn't help but feel a chill come over her, astonishment that anyone could survive that. _

"_Why does he go on?" she asked in a whisper. _

_Sarah Jane was thoughtful a moment. "Because he has to," she said finally. "The world needs the Doctor, even if it takes away everyone he loves. No one knows loss better than the Doctor, but no one knows love better, either." _

_Allison ran her tongue across her lip thoughtfully, reaching into her pocket for her wallet-a picture of herself and her friends, to remind herself of what she had, somewhere-what she did not expect her fingers to brush against was a long, somewhat cylindrical device. She pulled it from her pocket and looked up at the Doctor. _

"_Doctor?" she murmured. He didn't meet her gaze, even acknowledge her, but she went on. "Does your…device-thingy do more than just make holograms in mobiles?" _

_At this all three others looked up at her with astonishment. The Doctor's eyes were the widest as he reached from his cage; Allison passed the device to Jack, who passed it to the Doctor. _

"_Aw, brilliant," he said excitedly as he ran it along the lock of his cage. It burst open and he kicked his door open, getting to his feet and unlocking the others. When he released Allison, he wore a broad smile. "D'you know what you are? You're a genius." _

_Allison was too incredulous at the Doctor's praise to point out that she just reached into her pocket and found the device. He turned away but turned back to her, holding up the device. _

"_For future reference," he added, "this is called a sonic screwdriver." _


	5. Chapter 5

"What do we do about the Dalbermeks?" Sarah Jane asked. The Doctor inhaled quickly, then spoke.

"I gave them a warning," he said. "Look, this isn't a proper Dalbermek vault; it's just a storage room."

"So?" Jack asked.

Allison caught on. "Something else is taking up all proper vault?" she guessed. The Doctor nodded.

"Now, I'm no fan of the Dalbermeks or kidnapping. If we opened the cages of the other aliens, they'll come out like a flood."

"So we break down the floodgates," Allison said. "That's great, but how do we open a bunch of cages to free aliens without the Dalbermeks figuring us out?"

"The translator system," Sarah Jane pointed out. "If it's set up in the vaults, it's nothing but an array of speakers arranged to point directly at the cages."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh yes," he said. Swinging open the door, he exclaimed, "Allons-"

He broke off as he saw two Dalbermeks staring at him.

"Perfect," Jack said unhappily.

"Hey, look!" the Doctor shouted, pointing down the hall. "Ah-a distraction!"

Completely taking the humans by surprise, the Doctor's distraction worked. The Dalbermeks looked away and they shot off, managing to duck behind a doorway before the aliens realized they were tricked. They all grinned as the Dalbermeks shot past them.

"Less obvious this time, Doctor," Sarah Jane advised as the Doctor peeked his head out into the hallway.

"Right," he said sheepishly. They stepped into the hallway, looking around.

"Okay," Jack murmured. "If I was a room kept by aliens to hold other aliens, where would I be?"

"If I remember correctly-which I do-the vaults are near to the back, just like storage. But we should be looking for the control room, which is near the middle. Hang on."

He found a control panel on the wall and held up his sonic screwdriver. Within an instant, the screen lit up and he began searching through files.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "Brilliant-we don't need the control room after all. There's a mike and a camera here, so we can just…" He pulled the security camera onto the screen, revealing one massive room full of cages. "Yes! Just have to sonic the entire room, easy-peasy."

He pulled a microphone towards him and pressed his sonic screwdriver into it. With the press of a button he sent a blast of sound through the cage room. The cages burst open and aliens did, as they predicted, pour out like a flood.

"We can catch an escape pod here," Jack said, pointing to an adjacent screen bearing a map. The Doctor nodded.

"Brilliant. You three go."

Sarah Jane's mouth fell open. "Doctor, this is no time to be heroic. Those aliens are going to be out for blood."

"If I catch them midship I can convince them to escape rather than attack," he said. "The route to the escape pods there will keep you out of the way. Go."

"We're not leaving you," Jack exclaimed.

"If you go, we go," Allison added. The Doctor raised his eyebrows but shook his head.

"No way. Jack, Allie, Sarah Jane-get out, now. Before the Dalbermeks get here."

With that he darted out the door, turning to the left. Sarah Jane and Allison looked to Jack, who set his jaw grimly. "Come on," he said.

He turned to the door; Sarah Jane looked unhappy but followed him. They turned to the right when they came upon the door, but Allison paused. She could still see the Doctor, running along the hallway. With a split-second decision, she darted left.

By the time she caught up with the Doctor, he was standing in the junction of several corridors. He saw her but didn't seem too angry.

"Thought if anyone followed me, it'd be you," he said. "I heard Sarah talking to you."

Allison felt her face grow red. "I'm sorry, Doctor," she said. "For your friend, and your…girlfriend."

The Doctor sighed deeply. "It was easier for Rose," he whispered. "My 'girlfriend.' She had me there, even when I can't have her. She wasn't sobbing…screaming at me to let her go on and kill herself." He broke off abruptly. "Donna was perfect, and she'll never know it. That's tragedy, Allie, worse than anything that's ever happened to me."

Allison was silent, and for that they suddenly heard the sounds of approaching creatures. The Doctor grabbed her arm and held his other arm outstretched towards a panel, his sonic screwdriver gripped tightly in his fist.

"Don't be scared," he murmured to Allison.

"I never am," she replied with determination.

Suddenly, a thousand aliens stormed towards them like a single body.


	6. Chapter 6

Allison had her face turned away before she realized she wasn't being stampeded. She looked from the Doctor, who was grinning, to the aliens, seemingly trapped behind an invisible barrier. There were tentacles and arms and legs, fur and feathers and scales, and many eyes looking at the two of them.

"Oh, the cleverness of me," the Doctor laughed. "It's a force field in case of emergencies, specifically this. Just sonicked that panel over there and put it into effect."

Allison let out a breath she hadn't been aware that she was holding. "_Never_ do that again," she breathed. He laughed joyfully, a sound that Allison decided she thoroughly enjoyed.

"Now, I'm gonna tell you all something," he shouted to the aliens. When they made no sign that they heard him, Allison cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted.

"_Hey!_"

The Doctor looked at her with a little surprise as the aliens became silent, but said nothing to her. "Species from across the galaxy; I have released you to tell you something. I will not let any of you lay a finger to the Dalbermeks, understand?"

"Who are you to stop us?" a voice shouted.

"Glad you asked," the Doctor smiled. "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey. I am 904 years old, and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives."

The aliens were silent before one shouted, "Time Lord?"

"The Doctor," another voice yelled. "An enemy of the Sontarans!"

The Doctor grimaced. "Not Sontarans," he said with disdain. "Look, I'm only here to return you safely to your planets. There are plenty of escape pods to save all of you, while if you seek revenge many, if not all, of you will be killed."

"Sontarans do not fear death!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "If you don't take the escape pods, I'll lock you back up in the cage you crawled out of. You don't want to be in a cage; there's no honor in that!"

Allison smiled at the Doctor, impressed.

"Where are the escape pods?" one alien voice called.

"Right behind you," the Doctor answered. Almost instantly the aliens stopped trying to come at them, and instead bolted to the escape pods. Allison laughed in disbelief; the Doctor had solved it all with words?

"You are incredible," she exclaimed. The Doctor laughed and held up his hand for a high-five; neither could hold in a laugh as their palms slapped. "You're simply outrageous."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said before running to the panel. Allison saw the force field zap the air as it disappeared, and she looked at the Doctor in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"We've got to get you home," he said. "Sarah Jane and Jack will already be on Earth, and we better hurry up, too. In a few minutes this ship's gonna be on a deadlocked course for Dalber."

"What?" Allison asked as they stepped into an empty escape pod. "Why?"

"Because I put it on one," he answered with a laugh.

They touched down almost exactly where they had left, with an exception; there were soldiers and emergency workers all over, cleaning up the wreckage. Allison discovered that her hand had found its way into the Doctor's; she wasn't bothered at all.

"Doctor!" They looked up to see Sarah Jane and Jack running towards them. Jack caught the Doctor first, enveloping him in a hug; once the Doctor broke free he embraced Sarah Jane. Then they stepped back, the Doctor again taking Allison's hand.

"The creatures are free," the Doctor said. "The Dalbermeks are off on their way back to Dalber. All that remains is for Allison to go back to her own time."

Allison looked at the Doctor worriedly. "But-Doctor-"

"Allie, I'm not about to argue with you." He squeezed her hand. "Let's go."

He pulled her away from the others towards a police box; at first she wondered why a police box was placed so haphazardly on the street; then he stepped up to it and held the door open for her.

"This is your spaceship?" she asked dubiously.

"It's bigger on the inside," he assured her. She stepped in, looked around, and stepped out again. The Doctor's eyes watched her intently, taking in every moment. "She's called the TARDIS."

"Wow," she murmured. "It's like-an anomaly, but not." She turned to the Doctor in delight. "A real, actual, alien spaceship. Nick will be _freaked_."

"Connor Temple's son?" the Doctor asked. "No doubt."

Allison looked at him in amazement. "How do you know so much about us?" she asked. "How did you recognize me?"

He was silent for a moment. When he spoke, it was with an air of nostalgia.

"I was there," he said. "With your parents, when the ARC was just beginning. Just one visit, just after you and your sister were born. I was always fond of the ARC. I saw your mother, all over you."

Allison blushed. All her life people told her she looked more akin to her mother than she did her twin sister, Jo, who had the dark hair and paler skin of her father.

"Not just in how you look, of course." The Doctor spoke as he began to work the machinery of the ship. "It's beneath the surface, too; you're brave when it counts and totally _skittish _when faced with a spider. Your mum was like that."

Allison was silent. She watched the Doctor work the controls of the TARDIS with ease, knowing its every quirk and move a minute before the ship knew. Why did she suddenly feel like she was being taken from home, rather than _to_ home?


	7. Chapter 7

"And-here we are." The Doctor stopped, looking up at her and breaking her concentration. "Well…Allie, it's really been something."

"Yeah," Allison agreed; she couldn't believe it, but she was breathless. "I hope I see you again, Doctor-_really_."

"And I you," the man replied. He smiled gently upon her, his eyes taking her in. "And-about that question you asked Sarah. Why do I keep going? Because I'm a better man for it, and because I have to. I _could_ stop any time, but I never _really could_. Knowing that I'm helping people, that's the biggest joy I can ever hope to have."

"That's why it hurt you so badly when Donna left," Allison said quietly. "You helped her once, but you couldn't do it again."

The Doctor nodded weakly. "Yeah," he breathed. Then he shook his head, smiling. "Really, Allie, it's been great. _You've_ been great."

Allison smiled. "Goodbye, Doctor."

She stepped from the TARDIS, taking one last, deep look at it, and at the incredible man within it, before walking forward. She knew where she had to go, where the Doctor would want her to go.

She walked the entire way to the ARC, loving the cold winter breeze. She knew, for the first time in her life, she really knew how wonderful everything was about to become.

The main staff was all at the Christmas party in Cardiff (Lester had booked it months before to get a reception at a nice hotel, as opposed to the old thrown-together-at-the-last-minute ARC celebrations) rather than at the ARC itself. She admitted to herself that she missed it a little.

She wasn't even carded at the door to the ARC, the soldiers were so surprised to see her. She walked in and found the skeleton team working diligently filing paperwork. She paused by her old desk, which hadn't been touched since she left; Nick had told her everyone expected her to come back and continue her work. She grabbed a piece of ARC stationery and scrawled down a quick note:

_Dear friends,_

_First, let me say I've missed you. Nick, I can't really say I miss you as we're flat mates, but still. I want you all to know that I've discovered where I belong. It's not at the ARC, but with-I can't really tell you that. He's incredible, though. I won't see you for a long time, but I want you to know I love you (except you, Lester!) and I can't wait to see you again. _

_All my love,_

_Allie_

Allison knew she'd find the TARDIS exactly where she had left it; the blue box's door was open and waiting for her. She ran forward, leaping into the spaceship and unsuspecting arms of the Doctor.

"Wha-I didn't think you'd just _launch_ yourself in, Allie," he exclaimed, but held onto her tightly.

"But you did know I'd be back," she pointed out; he laughed, which just made her laugh.

"I didn't," he admitted. "I just hoped you would."

Allison smiled. "Okay, then," she said. "So, where first?"

"Wherever you can imagine," he said. "We can go to Poosh, or to Felspoon to see the mountains move. Or we could explore Earth's own history. How would _you_ like to see the pyramids when they were the hot new thing? Visit JK Rowling while she's finishing the seventh _Harry Potter?_"

"Egypt," Allison said. "My mum used to be an Egyptologist-you should know that. I'd love to see the pyramids being built."

The Doctor grinned. "Molto benne," he said. "Allons-y!"

**To be continued**_**. **_

**I hope you've enjoyed the first installment, and continue with the series. Book 2, _Companion_, should be finished soon.**


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